Red, White and Tahoe Blue sets plans for 2014

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INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — Although the recent dusting on the High Sierra might indicate businesses are planning for winter, the board of directors for Red, White and Tahoe Blue is already preparing for next July.

This past month, the board recapped what has been its “most successful year,” said chairman Jim Smith.

“We set a variety of new records that indicate that this community-wide event is here to stay,” Smith said.

The festival set records at all of its reoccurring festivities, Smith said, and the board was pleased with the results of the new events.

In all, $30,000 was donated back to a variety of nonprofit groups in the Incline Village/Crystal Bay region.

“From the very beginning, one of Red, White and Tahoe Blue’s main goals was to raise money for those who need it most,” said Smith. “It is that opportunity that keeps our Board focused on the festival, year-round.”

Some of the key of goals of this year’s event were to increase local business revenues, non-profit participation and enhance and/or improve existing events, Smith said.

TOPS IN THE U.S.

The thousands of locals and visitors who headed to the beach for fireworks on the Fourth this summer experienced another new feature with synchronized music fused into what has become one of the west’s finest fireworks celebrations.

In fact, MSNTravel.com selected the fireworks, and the entire four day festival, as “One of the Nation’s Top 10 Fourth of July Celebrations.”

One of the biggest additions to the annual celebration in 2013 was the board’s mission to enhance the festival’s arts and cultural events.

Tahoe Players performed Les Miserables live on stage, and the following evening was a doubleheader of rock and roll that showcased grammy-award winning talent with Pablo Cruise opening up for The Elvin Bishop Band.

Through a continuing collaboration with the Crystal Bay Club, and assistance from General Manager Bill Wood, the musical events attracted more than 1,000 people.

‘ROOM TO GROW’

This year’s Village Fair set records again, with more than 75 local nonprofit agencies in attendance. Last year the Fair hosted 60 agencies.

“This seems to be a one of kind event where all of our nonprofit organizations can benefit from the mass exposure of the Red, White and Tahoe Blue celebration,” said Lee Koch, chairman of the event and RWTB board member. “It would not surprise me to see all of the organizations back next year; thank goodness we have room to grow on the Village Green.”

Throughout the four-day event, a variety of local restaurants partnered with the festival to offer locally made provisions. BWG BBQ, Crosby’s Pub, Kissino’s Pasta Sauce and Incline Spirits and Cigars worked around the clock to prepare for the record crowds.

For several years, the Incline High School Cross Country Team has hosted the annual Tahoe Firecracker Trail Trek, which offered events for the entire family.

With the popularly of action sports growing throughout the region, the festival added a Mountain Bike & Hike The Flume event, based at Tunnel Creek Café & Station and co-sponsored by the Village Ski Loft.

LOOKING AHEAD

Currently, RWTB is fine-tuning the events in line for the three-day celebration on July 3-5, 2014.

“We will continue to offer all of the festival’s traditional events that could not happen without the hundreds of volunteers that pitch in each year,” said Smith. “We intend to become one of the best Independence Day celebrations in the nation and will continue to focus on building local business revenues throughout our 2014 festival and beyond.”

As the festival’s popularity grows, RWTB has added new opportunities for businesses to benefit from exposure.

Emeritus board member Tom Bruno is taking the helm this year to handle the festival’s community outreach and has a variety of sponsorships available for companies large and small.

The festival would not be where it is today without the support of its key sponsors, said Bruno, noting that the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe, Incline Village/Crystal Bay Visitors and Convention Bureau and a few private donors have kept the celebration alive for the past six years.

“Much like every business, we balance our expense with our income and strive to end each year with monies to give back to our community when all is said and done,” said Bruno. “We have some fun new ideas in our sponsorship program this year that I promise makes good business sense for companies of all shapes and sizes.”

For information about sponsorships, contact Bruno at tbruno@chaseinternational, or call 775-742-3106.